Josh Lalor is a left-arm medium pacer who made his List A and first-class debut in November 2011, at the age of 24, owing to the need to finish his marketing graduation before seriously purs...Full profile

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Josh Lalor is a left-arm medium pacer who made his List A and first-class debut in November 2011, at the age of 24, owing to the need to finish his marketing graduation before seriously pursuing a career in cricket. He is one of the handful of native New South Wales players representing the state in first-class cricket.

He took his maiden 5-for soon after his debut against a formidable Tasmania line-up in favourable batting conditions, which immediately made the selectors take notice of his potential. However, he did not perform consistently after the aforementioned break-through performance, and has played only 9 Shield matches and 6 List-A games for his New South Wales, missing out on the 2016 Shield season because of a side strain.

He shifted his focus to franchise-based T20 cricket in the 2011/12 Big Bash, and has performed well in T20s, conceding at less than 8 runs per over. He has been reliable and miserly in the powerplay overs and has shown great accuracy with yorkers at the death as well.

Lalor has been involved in some of the most memorable Big Bash matches of all time. In the 5th edition of the league, he bowled a remarkable spell of 4 wickets for 6 runs in his first 3 overs against the Sydney Sixers, making him the automatic choice for his then-captain Mike Hussey, with 23 required off the last over. However, a couple of yorkers-gone-wrong and a few fortuitous boundaries later, the Lalor had conceded 23 off the over and the Sixers were home.

He also took a controversial, but nonetheless, remarkable boundary catch in the 2015 edition of the Big Bash league, where he lobbed the ball over the ropes before going over across the boundary and came back in to complete a very cleverly-judged catch. The catch in question was, of course, scrutinized by the cricketing fraternity, due to the then-newly-introduced laws about boundary catches. However, the athleticism exhibited by Lalor was unquestionable.

In the 2016 edition, he bowled two magnificent yorkers at the death in an upset win against the Melbourne Stars in their home ground to help Brisbane Heat secure a win at the MCG. The Brisbane Heat will expect a lot from Lalor as he is their front-line seamer, and his role may be pivotal in Brisbane Heat's campaign in the upcoming Big Bash League 2017/18.

Fun fact:Lalor, being a marketing graduate, has also contributed to the Sydney Cricket Association's Management Committee over the course of the last two years.

He is a big basketball and American football fan, and follows the NBA, AFL, and NRL. He also follows the NFL and supports the Cleveland Browns.

by Rishi Royas of December 2017

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